Industrial Development in the Colonial Empire and the Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa 1932
Author(s)
Miners, Norman
Abstract
Decisions made at the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1932 to protect industry and agriculture in Britain and its dominions against their competitors encouraged colonial entrepreneurs to establish rival industries in British colonies such as Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong was a free port with no customs duties on imports or exports, industrialization there was different than in other British colonies, where industry could only be established with the aid of protective tariffs and other government assistance and manufactured goods could only be sold in local markets. Yet Hong Kong’s industrialization did not expand significantly until the Imperial Economic Conference agreed to impose protection against Japanese exports of textiles, footwear, and other goods, while facilitating trade within the British Empire. Chinese entrepreneurs in Hong Kong soon took over from the Japanese as the main competitors of British and dominion manufacturers in textiles and rubber footwear, leading to much lobbying of London to restrict exports from Hong Kong.
